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Saturday, May 25, 2013

My husband
and I decided to take a long Memorial weekend and spend 6 days in Oregon. As we
started to research the trip, we read about the hikes, the waterfalls, the
hipsters, the Goonies house and then we read about the fresh seafood, trendy
restaurants and blocks filled with food trucks. We couldn’t wait.

Day 1 – Hood
River:

We started
our trip by flying into Portland and driving out to Hood River. In the first
hour of our trip, we made stops along the way to check out several huge
waterfalls and did a couple little hikes. (if you're ever in the area, check out Punchbowl Falls!). Our evening ended up in Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River, where we had their special white pizza
with roasted asparagus and tomatoes (and we had to add sausage!). The pizza was
a thin crust with the lemony sweet flavor. They had some great beers on tap,
which we tasted in their sampler.

In the
morning, we checked out Nora’s Table.
I had the Bombay-town fry,
which consisted of curried potatoes, peas and kale hash with fried oysters, two
poached eggs, red onion date chutney and naan bread. It was the most amazing
naan bread I ever had, made with caraway seeds, sesame seeds, yogurt and topped
with coarse sea salt. I love Indian food, but it was a little much Indian for
breakfast for me.

My husband had
the Louisiana eggs benedict made of house-made tasso ham, trinity of peppers,
onions and celery, poached eggs, on an English muffin, Cajun hollandaise with
your choice of breakfast potatoes or grits. Both of these delicious breakfast
meals were only $10 each!

Day 2 –
Portland:

We spent the
middle of our trip in Portland. As soon as we got there,
we wanted to check out the food carts in an area called Cartopia off of SE
Hawthorne Blvd. Unfortunately, by the time we
got there, they were all closed. Fortunately, Lardowas across the street! For
a “snack” we order the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had and their Dirty Fries.
These thick cut fries were topped with fried pork scraps, marinated peppers, fried herbs and parmesan. Even though
it was a raining day, we enjoyed sitting outside at one of their long picnic
tables. The people watching kept us entertained as we pigged out on Dirty
Fries. Lunch and a show for $7!

That night we enjoyed some
tapas at ¡Oba! Restauranté.
Delicious! We came in for the Prime Rib Coyotas, crispy beef
flautas with corn salsa & lime crema, which we saw on their website, but
the seared scallop special was the real winner. They were served over basil
mashed potatoes and topped with a chorizo relish. Did I mention it was
delicious? We also ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna,
served with chervil-chive oil & mango-tomatillo salsa. The dish was very
tasty, especially the tangy salsa.

After dinner, we decided to check out the Deschutes Brewery. I’m not typically an IPA fan
since they tend to be too hoppy for me, but I fell in love with their
Chainbreaker White IPA. We also ordered some chicken wings. I’m embarrassed to
admit it, but we weren’t even hungry, so I’ll blame this one on my husband! Although
we practically forced ourselves to eat them, like gluttons, these chicken wings
were out of this world. They were so meaty, they were practically mini
drumsticks!

Day 3 –
Portland:

The next day in Portland was Saturday, so we decided to check out the
Portland Saturday Market,
which is located right on the water. It’s full of vendors, music and food. I went for the Salvadorian vendor and got a pupusa,
a thick handmade corn tortilla filled with pork and beans, and my hubby went
for the gyros. We sat near the fountain, enjoying our food while taking in all
the interesting people and sights. We made up the game ‘hipster or homeless’,
where you have to guess if the person walking by is, you guessed it, a hipster
or homeless person. Surprisingly, the looks are very similar.

As we cruised around town, we came across two blocks ofFood Trucks! We went with the Kargi
Gogo, authentic street food from the country of Georgia. Since we couldn’t decide what to
order, but wanted to try everything, we got the sampler, which consisted of a
Khachapuri (Georgian
Cheese Bread), Lobiani (Stuffed Bean & Onion Bread) and a Hinkali
(Boiled, oversized hand-rolled bundles of joy filled with seasoned beef,
pork, herbs & broth). The dumplings came with instructions. We were to hold
the dumpling by its little “handle”, turn upside down, take a little bite,
slurp out the broth and devour the rest. Not the best for sharing but we
managed. I preferred the Khachapuri, while my husband preferred the Lobiana,
which worked out perfect.

Here are some other fun food carts we passed:

That evening, while we were
waiting to meet up with some friends for dinner, we decided to pop into Oven and Shaker for a couple
drinks. I saw the fried chick peas on the menu and had to try them. They were
fried with Rosemary and sprinkled with sea salt. What a great snack! Even
though they were fried, you could pretend like they were healthy.

For dinner, we enjoyed more tapas at Andina, Peruvian cuisine. Everything
was very good and fresh. We ordered the Palta Rellena de Cangrejo (avocado stuffed with crab, topped
with a poached prawn), Picadillo Acebichado (Peruvian
tartare of filet mignon with capers, olives, cilantro and quail egg) and TWO orders of
the Mixta Nikkei (Yukon Gold
potato, spicy tuna and crab salad, topped with crispy breaded prawn) because it
was so delicious that one was not enough. The restaurant had great ambiance. We
sat on their “patio” that was really their first floor as the second floor
opened in the middle and had a glass ceiling. The also had live jazz that
added to the whole experience.

Day 4 –
Astoria:

On the way to Astoria, we stopped by a road side market advertising
60 varieties of jerky. I had to stop. They had everything else dried, too: every
fruit, veggie and a whole isle of dried mushroom varieties. I picked up some
dried salmon jerky for the road.

Once in Astoria, we sought out a little boat turned into a
restaurant called the Bowpicker, which sold albacore tuna fish & chips, and
only albacore tuna fish & chips. Cash only. When we pulled up to our
destination, the line was about 40 deep and we found out they had been waiting
for 1 ½+hours. We decided to go for it, and surprisingly it wasn’t raining
during our time in line. The fish & chips didn’t disappoint. I was
pleasantly surprised to bite into a beer battered filet of tuna, rather than
the standard cod. There were only about 2 or 3 picnic tables around this boat
in a dirt parking lot, so we enjoyed our meal in the car, just as it started to
rain. Perfect timing.

Since we arrived in Astoria on a Sunday afternoon, pretty
much everything was closed, so we ended up at the Fort George brewery and got a
beer sampler. Not too impressive, but my taste buds were amused by the Spruce
Budd Ale, which was made from spruce tips, and the homemade wasabi ginger ale.

Day 5 – Cannon Beach/Tillamook:

Next on the stop was Cannon Beach, which was supposed to
be one of the beach parts of the trip, but it was also the worst weather part
of the trip. This little town had street lined with a lot of fun shops,
restaurants, candy shops and wine shops to keep you entertained, and allowing
you to duck in and out of the rain.

We had lunch at Ecola Seafoods. It was the best clam
chowder I’ve ever had, and I would consider myself a connoisseur in the world
of clam chowders. Creamy and chunky with a potato and clam in every bite. We
accompanied our clam chowder with garlic toast topped with crab and melted
cheddar. I wish we would have stayed for dinner because I wanted to eat there
again. Their fish market looked amazing with beautiful salmon filets and clams,
as well as their fresh shrimp and crab cocktails available in their display
case. Unfortunately, the trip had to move on. The cheese in Tillamook was calling us.

We arrive in Tillamook just in time for dinner. The
options were limited, but we found Pacific Restaurant on Yelp!, which had really good reviews,
aside from the warnings about lack of atmosphere (I think it was compared to a
Denny’s). As we walked in, we also questioned our choice, but the food was one
of the best dinners of the trip.

We started with their
roasted local beet and jicama salad tossed in a chili-lime vinaigrette, which
had a beautiful presentation, like the rest of our meal.

I
ordered the seafood linguini in their lemon cream sauce. It was amazing. The
sauce wasn’t too rich and had a nice lemon flavor. There was an abundance of
seafood that topped the pasta – fresh, local salmon pieces, tender clams and
huge prawns.

My
hubby ordered the short ribs over a corn polenta. The beef was tender and
delicious. The perfect accompaniment for a creamy corn polenta. If I ever find
myself passing through Tillamook, and I mean only passing through and not
staying the night (been there, done that), I will definitely be stopping by for
dinner again.

The next morning, we headed for what we came for.
Cheese. We headed straight to the Tillamook cheese factory. You get a unique view of the factory from a top
floor and are able to watch the cheese blocks travel down the various conveyor belts
of the factory, being sliced, counted or packaged. I expected a little more
from the samples. They only had about 5 different types for sample, so
naturally I had to go through the line several times to get my fill. The Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar was my
favorite, and the squeaky cheddar cheese curds were a fun runner up. Besides the
cheese, they also have an ice cream shop with tons of creamy flavors to sample.

Day 6 - Portland:

Our last day of the trip and we’re headed back to
Portland to catch our flight out, but not without one last meal at Salty’s, which overlooked the Columbia River. We were
excited to get our last fill of seafood chowder, but both decided afterwards,
was not worth it. Too thick and majorly lacking clams. It was more like a roux
and they forgot to add the clam juice and cream,...and veggies and clams!
Although the chowder was disappointing, they made up for it with their Olive Oil Poached Salmon Bruschetta. There were
three large toasted slices of baguette, spread with pesto,
topped with fresh from the river salmon and drizzled with an anchovy vinaigrette.
My hubby had the Blackened
Alaskan Halibut with roasted garlic and Chèvre whipped potatoes,
charred tomato, Calabrese sausage and a pea tendril salad.

What a perfect ending for our culinary adventure in
Oregon.

Now I’m home and it’s time to DIET! Hope you enjoyed our culinary adventure.

Using your fingers,
gently separate the chicken skin from the breast, creating pockets to stuff the
herb and lemon zest mixture in. Pat chicken skin dry. Drizzle with EVOO and
sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a 9”x 13” casserole dish.

Surround
with potatoes, Brussels sprouts, garlic and Rosemary. Drizzle with EVOO and
sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for
35-40 minutes until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees and
skin is browned and crispy.

In a medium pan
over medium high heat, sauté onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic in EVOO
until soft. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Remove shrimp from pan and set
aside. Stir in coconut milk and curry paste; let thicken. Season with salt, to
taste. Before serving, add shrimp back to dish to heat through. Don’t over
cook.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Place bottom
layer of cake on a long plate. Spread layer of chocolate ice cream. Top with
middle layer of cake. Spread with strawberry ice cream. Frost cake with whipped
topping. Decorate edges and top with strawberry slices. Place cake back in
freezer until it hardens.

Combine pork
with seasoning and broth. Add to crock pot and cook for 8+ hours. Drain fat and juices, save about ¾
cup of juice. Shred pork and mix with extra juices. Leave in crock pot to keep
warm until ready to eat.